Ava
By the time I arrive at Del Frisco’s, I want to find a corner booth and curl up and take a nap. I’m spent. There’s a red streak in my left eye leashing my pupil to my tear duct, telling the world I haven’t slept soundly in days. My head and neck seem to have gained twenty pounds because I can barely keep them up on my shoulders. And I feel like a fog has descended around my head, giving me zero visibility into reality.
It will get better when this case is over.
Of course it will. Then the next case will hit my desk. And the next. And the—
“Ava! Over here!” Tammy is standing on the rung of the bar stool, waving me over in a way that alerts all of center city to my arrival.
I slip through the crowd, excusing myself as I go, and then I’m wrapped in Tammy’s arms and her scent.
“That was too long,” she says. “If it happens again, I’m calling your boss.”
I chuckle half-heartedly and sink onto the bar stool. She isn’t joking.
Tammy lets out a low whistle and looks me over.
“You know, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, but you look like you need a vacation already,” she says, signaling to the bartender with the perfectly groomed facial hair.
“I’ve been living off coffee and donuts for two weeks,” I murmur. “I didn’t even make it to my bed last night. Passed out on the couch.”
She scrunches up her nose and turns to the good-looking hipster to order a much-needed round of martinis. She gives him a bone-melting smile and then turns to me as if the smile never happened.
“You know you have options, right? My mom would love for you to work the campaign—”
“We’ve been here,” I sing song. We’ve been here extensively. And while I love Olivia, politics make me itch. Not to mention the forced proximity to my ex. Extra itchy.
She rolls her eyes.
“Or you could go back to school. Or better yet, travel,” she says, popping an olive into her mouth.
I stare at her. Go back to school. And throw away three years of law school and tens of thousands of dollars.
“I’m going to say something you don’t want to hear, but maybe it’s time to tap into the money your mom—”
I put my hand on her mouth. My mom’s money and art are exactly where they should be—safely tucked away. If I spend it, that’s another piece of her I’ll never get back. Tammy looks down cross-eyed at my fingertips until I move it, and then she doesn’t even breathe before diving in again.
“You decided on law so fast, Ava. You barely gave yourself time to breathe after she passed, let alone time to figure your shit out.”
I look down at the mahogany bar so she can’t see that I know she’s right. But it’s too late for all of that.
“It will get better,” I whisper. “It’s just been a hard transition. I’m having reverse culture shock.”
Not to mention the whole shattered heart thing.
“Or maybe you’re in the wrong culture?” she muses.
There’s a long silence between us that is fortunately interrupted by the arrival of my drink.
I say thank you and take a huge sip from the filled glass, letting the gin coat my nerves and drown out Tammy’s intuitive call-outs.
“Alright, enough about me. What’s going on with you? Any word from the embassy?” I ask, and Tammy’s face immediately lights up.
“You got the job!” I say.
“I got the job!”
“Holy shit. This is amazing!” I hold up my drink and she clinks her rim with mine, then takes a long gulp. “When do you start?”
